FINDING RIGHT PATH

Q But you didn’t join the tour until much later in life.

A

I finished high school and moved down to Brisbane to study at uni for six months. I was doing food science and nutrition but wasn’t enjoying it. I got out of that and started working at a sports store for a couple of years. It wasn’t until I was 21 that I decided to give squash a real go. I started playing tournaments around Australia and it took a couple of years to get to a level where I was consistently going deep and winning tournaments. By the time I turned 25, I had an opportunity to go overseas and play professionally based out of the Netherlands. I was there for eight years.

Q How did you end up in the Netherlands? A

A friend had an apartment there and told me to come and see if I liked it. A three-month visit turned into eight years. It’s a lot easier to base yourself there because you’re closer to the United States and tournaments in Europe. They have leagues over there too. So you get paid to play in competitions. People invite you to play in leagues across Europe and as I got more established, the more invitations I got. As the years went on I got more offers to play in leagues in places like France and Germany, which was great.